Been on the phone with Esignal all morning.
They suck.
In the end, they told me to close down the program, turn off my computer, and turn it back on again.
It still doesn't work.
Perhaps they should spend less on their advertising and more on their customer service representatives.
What a week...
I don't have too much to write about today. It was one of those days where I thought I was maybe down $200 and then I opened my P&L and found myself down $800. I just couldn't get a winner.
This weekend will be spent going through stock graphs and trying to figure out what went wrong this past week.
One thing I figured out today though was this. Normally, I use 5-minute graphs. When the market is really slow and not volatile, I think I'll use 10 or 15 minute graphs. For some reason, when I have my stocks set to longer time frames, I trade less.
Here's the stats:
P&L, -$963
Best, MBI, $182
Worst, MOS, -$473
18,400 shares traded.
17 stocks traded. 4 winners, 13 losers.
Dehtrader, $1170 on 8004 shares traded.
Denarii, $40 on 2000 shares traded.
OBAT, $29 on 13,800 shares traded.
Misstrade, no trades.
Wincity, no trades.
Sanglucci, -$276 on 16,600 shares traded.
Me, -$963 on 18,800 shares traded.
It's fucked up that the VO closed exactly at $0, no?
We didn't even get to the pathetic level of 1.2 billion shares on the NYSE today. I find this somewhat surprising since we received the employment data this morning. Hopefully things pick up after Tuesday. However, since this is September redux, my new feeling is that traders will be disappointed if they're waiting for action after Tuesday.
Indeed, my new feeling is that the profession of stock trading is dead.
While that may be an exaggeration brought on by my poor trading this week it's true that I don't see a light at the end of the low volatility tunnel.
Finally, I want to point out that after yesterday's Virtual Office post sparked a little debate about the blogger known as Misstrade that I invited him to provide a post to answer his critics.
He declined.
Enjoy your weekend. I will have an open thread up. Please feel free to link-whore your blog there. And naturally, I will also be giving away billions in prize money.
Finally, Ragin is still gay.
Would be busy lulling me to sleep if it wasn't kicking me in the nuts so hard.
I've been informed that the picture I ran in the story about third-tier blogs was not Ragin Cajun, but instead, the fourth-tier blogger/male escort known as "Anything Goes."
My sincere apologies to Ragin.
Below is the picture of the real Ragin Cajun.
FBN flamed out so quickly that I forgot to keep making fun of them. Thank you Thomas for bringing this to my attention.
(hattip, T.R.)
And while this clip is 2 weeks old, the short skirt and the high boots are always timely.
Misstrade, $3200 on 5000 shares traded.
Sanglucci, $91 on 33,000 shares traded.
Wincity, $53 on 200 shares traded.
Evolution, $31 on 82,600 shares traded.
Me, -$188 on 25,800 shares traded.
OBAT, -$217 on 18,000 shares traded.
Dehtrader, -$1175 on 7690 shares traded.
Does anyone doubt me when I say that Misstrade is a tradebot?
Anyway, strong rally in the market again on decent volume. So I did what any idiot would do and I short the SPY near the close at $150.86. 200 shares. Pray for me.
We traded just under 1.4 billion shares today on the NYSE. Not great, but get this, just about 1.2 billion of that was "up volume." Impressive!
I ask you, how is it possible for me to be long all day and lose money? Danny? Any theories?
No daily post this evening. Like I said earlier tonight is "extreme Ping Pong" night. I feel that I currently suffer from "Market Abuse Syndrome." I am looking forward to the antidote, in the form of economic news, market volatility, Uncle Ben, and beating the shit out of my close friends in Ping Pong.
Meanwhile, the silence from "the Rage" is deafening. Rage, talk to me baby! All you do is delete my comments... I know you see them! You don't like the picture? We can change the picture!
He's the funniest guy on CNBC. That's not saying too much, but still.
Like at the end of that last segment (there were 2 guys around the table with him) he says to one, "Always a pleasure!" to the other guy he says, "You did... okay."
Then, when the dude looks all sheepish, he slaps him on the shoulder and says, "Only kidding, you did great!"
He's sarcastic. Must be tough to be paired with Maria.
She seems to be the kind that "doesn't get" sarcasm. In other words, she's stupid.
UPDATE: Then there's this... which I missed. Hilarious, but perhaps over the line.
In a poorly orchestrated attempt to rid my house of the smell of home heating oil, I attempted to douse a rag with an essential oil named Vetiver. Instead, I spilled the Vetiver on a rug.
Now the house is filled with the thickest melange of odor imaginable.
And I'm getting smoked.
The vibe thickens.
And it's not just because I'm currently getting smoked (again).
We're going out. Then, it's to a friends house for some crazy games of Ping Pong.
It's gonna be wild.
The people have spoken.
46 or 63% of you agree that daytrading is not gambling.
27 or 36% of you are horribly misinformed.
Meanwhile, if you truly believe that daytrading is gambling, you should not be daytrading. We all know everyone who gambles eventually loses their shirt.
-Ragin Cajun, third-tier blogger. (h/t Shane)
If you read my first piece on "the tier system" over at the Peanut Gallery, then you'll recall that I said there were two main ingredients that first-tier blogs have, traffic and community. It goes without saying that content is king.
Traffic is something that all third tier blogs lack (at least in significant numbers). So while there are many different types of third-tier blogs they all have one thing in common; they are all dependent on first-tier blogs for traffic growth.
Some of the more shameless third-tier bloggers (myself and Woody included) "link-whore" themselves on first-tier blogs in an attempt to draw more traffic to their own blogs. It's a low-percentage play, but look how this practice has benefitted Woody.
Just a few months ago he was clacking away on the fake parchment paper that was his "trailerparkesque," third-tier blog. Now, he is "The Woodshedder," first-tier blogger over at IBankCoin.
I guess over time, by spending hours and hours at places like Technorati, or My Blog Log, or commenting on every damn blog every day forever, that you could build up a decent readership without having to suck at the "teet" of the first-tier bloggers. But man, it would probably take forever.
Much better to have traffic thrown at you than to slave for it.
So ultimately, two things are necessary for a third-tier blog to make the jump up the "tier system." Solid links from good blogs, and excellent original content so that once people have found you they hang around and comment enough to form that other, more elusive element of first-tier blogs, "community."
Now, since we understand what it is that third-tier blogs lack, here's a brief, categorized, list of some third-tier blogs.
Subcategories of third-tier blogs
An excellent example of a third tier blog is Ragin's (see picture, above) blog. His blog is also "gay" which is a subcategory of "third tier blog." You'll notice that Ragin (club name, "The Rage") also exhibits very typical third-tier blogger behavior every time he asks "the Fly" if his blog is still third tier. Only third-tier bloggers seek acceptance from first-tier bloggers in such a blatantly humble way.
Then you have Danny's old blog (which I won't link here due to our "blogging standoff"). Moneyskater is a perfect example of another subcategory of the third-tier blog, the "copycat blog." He not only borrowed the color scheme and theme of "the Fly's" old blog, but he also lifted jargon directly from "the Fly" and even went so far as to think the masses cared when he bought or sold stock.
Imagine taking investment advice from an unemployed skater... It's hilarious!
Still, this strategy worked out quite nicely for "the scruffy, beer-chugging one" as he latched onto a first-tier blogger with a large enough ego, and became the so-called "bride of Fly." He now enjoys first-tier blogger status and uses his new found power to disparage and divide the third-tier blogging class.
Another subcategory of the third tier blog is the "adsensed" blog. A good example of the "adsensed" blog, is Bubs' trading blog. His blog is crawling with so many adverts that it's sometimes hard to go there and not buy implants of some sort.
Oddly enough, "the Fly's" new site is quickly becoming adsensed. Time will tell what becomes of a "whored-out" first-tier blog.
There are the "crazy" bloggers. For this example, we have our friend HPT. Dude lost $20 grand in one day, freaked out and changed the name of his blog to "High Probability Trader Blowup." Now, you never really know what you're going to find over there. Go back in his archives before the "blow-up" and it's like, a whole different place.
Then you have the "ex-trekkie/emo-kids/porn freak"sub-category. There is only one blog that fits into this category... Move The Markets. Incidentally, MtM also appeals to fans of Mr. Rodgers... It's a sick place really. It makes me feel uncomfortable every time I need to go there.
-the Move the Markets team of bloggers
Below the 3rd tier, naturally, is the 4th tier, or, "the spawning ground." This is where many blogs die unfortunately, never busting through that 100 page view a day kind of existence. Some will fight through the loneliness and adversity and manage to gain third-tier blog status... most will not.
There are countless examples of such blogs. Indeed, they make up the vast majority of the blogosphere. However, I won't point them out. You just don't link to fourth-tier blogs. In fact, if you do... you may be considered a forth-tier blogger yourself. Very dangerous territory really. Only first-tier bloggers are safe to link to forth-tier bloggers and even that carries a little risk.
-the "Fourth-Tier"
Finally, you have the cult blogs. Blogs that have been abandoned by their authors but live on nonetheless. An example of this could be Jake's old blog or even mdawsz's lispy blog... which interestingly enough, was once a third-tier blog.
Then there are the dead blogs. Ducati's blog and Momojuicing's blog are examples of blogs that flamed out without a trace. Both of these blogs can no longer be accessed via the internet. Ducati, should you need him, can still be accessed over at "the Fly's" site. Momojuicing simply vanished.
Oh, and let's not forget the "bear blog." Visiting a bear blog is somewhat akin to going to a 24-hour newstand to pick up a copy of Hustler at 3am when you're drunk, horny and alone. You go there, sometimes, but you don't want anyone to see you.
Sanglucci, $1030 on 21,200 shares traded.
OBAT, $368 on 10,800 shares traded.
Me, $132 on 14,000 shares traded.
Misstrade, no trades.
Wincity, no trades.
Akalawoo, no trades.
Denarii, -$55 on 600 shares traded.
Evolution, -$130 on 72,800 shares traded.
Dehtrader, -$293 on 5260 shares traded.
See what happens when you get those numbers in on time Sanglucci? You end up on top.
Speaking of Sanglucci, it seems that he is somehow involved in criminal behavior, selling tickets and/or smuggling children cross borders. I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if it turns out that Sanglucci is employing "illegals" to execute his trades for him... a la "the Fly." I just want to state here for the record that I'm not responsible for what goes on over at the "VO affiliate" sites.
Anyway, lots of people are taking some time off here and who can blame them? The FED meeting, and to a lesser extent, the jobs data that will be released on Friday are holding the market hostage. It's a "hostage market."
Sure, we got a big move today, but the volume is dead and the volatility has left the building.
We traded about 1.3 billion shares on the NYSE today. Yawn.
Still, if you have lots of patience and aren't stupid, there's lots of money to be made in this market. This explains why I'm having a hard time.
Let's see what tomorrow brings. Dow 14,000? Who knows?
Meanwhile, there's like 20 minutes left to go vote on my poll. Also, my daily post will be late tonight. The second half of the post I started yesterday over at "the Fly's" new blog will also come later this evening.
The third-tier blog post is still "in development." It will hit after the close. For now, I will appease you all with some music.
In case you missed it, Mark Haines just called Bob Pisani "the 'cool breeze' down on the floor."
That, my friends, is too much.
Yesterday we had oil delivered. The dude overfilled out tank and the oil cascaded out of some loose bolts and puddled on our basement floor.
In short, our entire house reeks of oil, making me hate it even more than I did before.
Also, it means we slept with all of our windows open even though it's 20 degrees.
I'm groggy, and still pissed off.
We will see how this effects my attempts to trade and blog. It's a science experiment.
